Page 6 - Holiday Shopping Guide 23

Promotional Pins with Santa’s Endorsement
The first wearable celluloid-covered lapel studs were used in the
1888 presidential campaign between Benjamin Harrison and
Grover Cleveland. Finally, on July 21, 1896, Whitehead
& Hoag was granted the last in the series of patents that
established the design of the pin-back button we know
today. As the popularity of celluloid pinback promotional
pins came into fashion, Santa’s image was paramount for
stores and services to highlight their holiday products and services.

Antique Cast Iron Tree Stands
These stands were a heavy solution to a holiday innovation – bringing the
Christmas Tree into the home and keeping it upright. According to Terry and Kim
Kovel, “All the early Christmas trees were freshly cut trees from a nearby forest. By
the 19th century in America, the fresh trees were brought into a church or home
and decorated. But it was a problem to keep the tree upright [and watered] … In
1876, a man in Philadelphia patented an iron tree stand and by 1919, a cone-
shaped tin stand weighted with sand or water was being sold. The stands had to be
heavy to keep the tree from tipping so they were made of cast iron.
[They] had large screws that pierced the trunk to hold the tree in
place. Collectors search for the iron stands made in unusual shapes, a
Santa Claus, village scene or even a group of reindeer.”
At the Yuletide Yankees show, there was an example from a vendor
that needed some help. But from hearing about this wonderful
example, it would be a tinkerer’s (or elf’s) dream to bring it back to its
lit-up glory! See the working one as an example of a completed stand.

Continued from page 3
• A LITTLE TOO “OUT THERE” • tacked up so she can wear it and the
For Christmas 2018, the rapper sleeves are half tacked up so when she
Kanye West gifted his wife Kim gets older, we can untack this sleeve
Kardashian with a $14 million and it can grow with her, and she can
condo in Miami as a vacation have this for her whole life.”
home. Before the sale had been
finalized, Kimye reportedly • WHEEL. OF. CHEESE! •
backed out, with West’s rep For Christmas 2015, singer John
saying that while Kardashian had Legend made his wife Chrissy Teigen’s
certainly appreciated the gesture, “lifetime dream” come true by giving
she wanted a vacation home with her a massive wheel of cheese.
a little more privacy.

• THE KING OF POP’S OUTERWEAR • • • • • • • • •
Speaking of the Kardashians, Kim and
then-husband Kanye West set the bar high in … AND THE BEST GIFT OF ALL
December 2019 when they bought their eldest One example of a large gift given at
daughter, North, a $65,625 jacket for Christmas time is the donation of $1 billion
Christmas at a Julien’s Auction held the previous to charity by Bill and Melinda Gates in
October. The velvet coat once belonged to the 1999. This gift was distributed to various
late Michael Jackson. “North is a really big organizations working to improve health-
Michael Jackson fan, and we knew she would care, education, and economic opportunities
love this,” the KKW Beauty creator wrote via for people in need.
Instagram at the time. “We won this on an
auction for Northie for Christmas. We had it

6 Holiday Shopping Guide Journal of Antiques and Collectibles